I sure appreciate your recommendation and critique, I've ordered this door system and wait eagerly for it's arrival.

I've raised chickens for 47 yrs. Just last fall we lost our entire flock cause my wife forgot she'd left the gate open. I'm following your recommendation & buying a chicken guard product.

we used the Ador automatic chicken door. it is gear driven, so predators can't pry it open. Also, comes ready to install, very simple. Never lost a chick.

An astronomical timer is a great solution to the daylight issue. There are units out there that can be set at dusk/dawn that will automatically adjust as required seasonally.

Love mine. Use the light sensor mode and left default lux settings. Works great so far. I have the premium model but not sure what's different other than the mounting screws are outside of the body. No stranded chickens so far.

Very useful video, thank you!

Great video. Thank you for the information

You can just use a timer that adjusts with sunrise / sunset times +/- offset. $20 at home depot.

Hello ! Thank you for sharing this experience with us. It's very interesting for me, because I am looking for a solution. Chicken Gard seams to be the best according your analysis of the stuff. Thanks again...!

Great idea with the tape on the door.

Great Video

Awesome video. You're very professional and have great ideas. Thank you!

Thanks for the great video.. I have a photo sensor door that closes to soon at dusk. Can this be ajusted to close at complete dark or just dusk?

I see the bobbin above the door and the hole out the side to where the chicken guard is, but can you show what the string looks like on the outside? In other words, do you have another bobbin or a pulley or something on the outside? Thanks!

I think I'm going to need to mount this inside my coop due to design limitations. Will the status light blinking every 30 seconds irritate the birds trying to sleep?

Does this door stop if it hits something, then restart like the VSB Door? I like all the added features of light intensity setting plus a timer, as our coop is just inside the forest so light will be filtered. Would you suggest the Premium or the Extreme? Ontario, Canada weather-not sure what difference the Extreme has besides the extra weight it can lift. Can it be mounted inside if there is a window right there to let in the light? Would like to go with the Premium for cost unless it won't hold up to snow/ice/cold.

Thank you very much. I have predators on my property that used my chicken pen like a KFC drive through. My new coop is 80 yards from the house with zero power and I'm in the market for a battery powered door. Thanks again.

Could you send me info on how you ran your string out of the controller?... Thanks

Does this system only work with the style of door you have? I bought a different hard plastic door that is sold regularly on Amazon.

I am in the USA, can I buy one here? If not where because I see no links. Thanks

I am looking for one to operate on magnetic doors

I am new to chickens..getting our first ones today actually, but not new mechanical design..my question is .. with these types of door openers..i get it a fox can't lift a door , but i would think a raccoon could possibly get the door lifted up since the design does not hold the door shut, but only stays closed by the weight of the door..so regardless of who makes this type. to me they are all the same..not very safe..

So here’s my experience with the Chicken Guard coop door opener: I already have 4 of those $98 curtain/drape openers for over 5 years, all working perfectly. For daylight/sensors I buy a $14 pole light sensor and wire it into the drape opener. I also use the car antenna with solar DC (3 of them) but they work kind of iffy. But I saw this video and thought the CG so very cool. After begging my wife to allow me to spend $229 instead of $114 she succumbed. Well, first off right before I took a sledge hammer to it, the string is too short. I need at least 48 inches, they make this with 18 or less. Then they do not bind the STRING to the reel-it’s put on by slip knot. The string falls off with the slightest tug and because it is not bound to the shaft of the reel the string will not roll up-especially if you hold it taut. OK, so I drill a small hole in the reel and thread FISHING LINE and bind it. I know in their literature and in their instruction manual (that probably reads well in the UK but confuses the living shit out of me) that they swear by the integrity of the string. Hey, I don’t care what you say, fabric string will mold and decompose … might take a year or two, but fishing line is forever … so are my coop doors! After fiddling with getting all the pulleys and the unit attached I felt sorry that I lost my temper and placed aside the sledge hammer. But it flew back into my hands like Thor’s hammer when I tried to calibrate the damn thing. After several attempts - again confused by the instructions - I discover that the door does not open at the EXACT point of calibration ,GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! It likes to find its own positions. Once I fixed that by swapping out the fishing line for a longer one, I did find the unit will set time and do the LUX settings easy enough. So after the wife hounded me for spending the money I smashed the damn thing anyway out of frustration. Because I had to do something with this hammer attached to my hand. And, besides, it felt good.

My henhouse and coop just is not given to using this product ...at least not without rebuilding part of something I already paid a lot of money for to begin with! Problem is the lack of places to mount pulleys etc ....plus I just dont want to pull my hair out engineering such .... The best part of the chicken guard as you pointed out is the clock they use ....they simply sourced and used an astronomical clock (pretty sure chickenguard did not manufacture the clock for this product, maybe the case but the board i bet is off the shelf somewhere They picked a good one though apparently? Would love to peek inside their box and see what they used! .... I do see on amazon there are a number of all purpose switches and timers that adjust for sunrise and sunset ... have to make sure they are "astronomical" AND have good feedback...

Great

What is the ideal size for a chicken door? I've just bought the ChickenGuard opener and now need to make a door. I have large breed chickens. I'm so glad I saw your video before I bought my door opener.

Is the chicken guard still working????

Looks like a good chicken coop door opener. What are the specs of the motor? We Might be able to upgrade it if some people found it not strong enough or not fast enough. Is it 6V ? how many amps? How many rpms? Let us know

Diameter of the line?....can use nylon or braid line?.thanks

Build a solid chicken run with hard wire . In bed in the ground and put a 20 inch shirt around it and cover with dirt . Also frame out the top with 2x4’s and cover with hard wire are chicken wire.all that said I like the auto door opener and hope to get one.but this is only one part of keeping your chickens safe.

Have a look at chickenguard.com, I got mine from there, and I saw they have international shipping options. Great little gizmo, I love it!

is it too much trouble for you to update closing time once per month?

Did you get the fox? Looked like he might have gotten trapped, hope you blasted it

Did you modify your chicken guard so that the string comes out the back, inside the coop? It's hard to see in the video how you directed the string (which comes out of the bottom of the unit as sent from the manufacturer) and made it go inside your coop (which from the perspective watching your video, would be the back of your chicken guard unit). I'd like to see more how you did that.

just wanted ask...would it be a good idea to have a light come on inside the coop at night for nothing more than safety for us humans to keep a watchful eye from a far from time to time? Or is it not a good idea and mess with a chickens sleep time rituals?

can i buy in usa ?

I bought a much cheaper product called Dawn Til Dusk and it was horrible, a waste of money. It was SO complicated to set up and I could never get the door to either open fully or close fully. ChickenGuard was a bit more expensive, but well worth it.

Start by building a predator proof coop and run, then even if the door would not function for whatever reason at least the chicken will be safe, t in very the fox did get in very easy

ASTi Premium Door Opener price: £107.83 = $162 US Dollar. Seriously, are you kidding me? Btw, great review tho.

Chickens didnt have a chance. Your chickens aren't protected in your run. I would switch from chicken wire to hardware cloth.

Fancy

gusto q SaNa mag gawa nG ganyan kaso wALa kaming pera pang gastos

judging from the night vision video - you lost your flock ultimately because your predator proofing failed. glad ChickenGuard is helping/an improvement however.

Damn, I just bought the D20 too. Wish I had seen this earlier.

Maybe I missed it. How much did you pay? Thanks

Looks nice - but has 1 thing about this I cannot stand --> it's battery powered. I ran 110v power to my chicken coop FOR A REASON. Give me an automatic door opener that plugs in rather than uses batteries.

Total bummer that you lost the entire flock.

wow these things are super cool but if their was not door like most coops and the coop was predator proof you would not have a problem but it is super cool but way way way over priced 172.00 us dollars but with a little research you can build this very cheap am just a cheap guy

Gives me an idea! I ordered electro magnet 130 POUND magnet! 12v for $20 amazon (uses LESS than 2 watts of power! That's like a night light amount!)...I will have it hold the door secure BUT I am putting springs that will constantly be trying to pull the door open ...then a time clock will cut the power every morning and springs will pull instantly the door open! fool proof! ...my door slides sideways but it should work on any type I think....cause man does it get old NEVER sleeping in! lol ....nothing is perfect though....if there is a power outage even for 2 seconds the door will open ...but seeing how it is unlikely a predator would just happen to be lying in wait exactly on that very rare occasion? I cant really be overly worried....I thought about building the self closing/opening door using power antenna a lot of folks have done but it is just a lot of work ....besides I mean one really should check their chickens multiple times a day anyway...we do ....no big deal tucking them in checking their water and stuff....the hassle is getting up at 5 to 6 ish EVERY dang morning am just to let em out! BTW if this appeals to you but you don't have electricity at your coup? You could simply buy a 12v battery and the cheap little solar charger from like harbor freight ....2 watts is nothing ...probably the smallest 12 volt battery and smallest solar panel/charger set up...but I already ran 120v down there so my wife can have a motion activated light and an outlet for shop vac etc.....So I'll just rummage through my box of old power supplies left over from various appliances and electronics or buy one if I have to ....120 volt ac in and 12 volt dc out ....1/2 or 1 amp rating would be more than enough! wiring is nothing on the 12 volt side ...the electric door magnet has 2 wires so connect one to one side of the battery and the other to one of the time clock's normally closed contacts ....the other side of contact connects to the other battery terminal ...okay you are right ...sigh ....I imagine little power supply from an old printer or something will be intrinsically protected against short circuit and fire ....but if using a battery for the 12 volts I would put a 1 amp fuse in line too just in case it shorts out somehow

Maybe if you built a decent fence around the run instead of that piece of shit you have , the predators wouldn't get in

I’ve struggled for six months to get my defective ChickenGuard extreme fixed, replaced, or refund, I sent the auto unit back per their instructions and I was told there was nothing wrong with it, go figure, so then they said they would refund my money after saying they would not, then they didn’t refund my money and I have not sent a replacement unit, $272.00 out of pocket with nothing but headaches and frustration to show for it.

if you are looking for a diy option, check out this post - www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=91&t=203209

LOL you didn't just lose your flock because you neglected to check them before sunset. You lost them cause that run is absolute junk. Seriously just some poles and a net over top? A fox should have to dig all night for 2 nights to even be able to get into your run. I use fence posts for some coops because it makes sense for the situation. But they need to be 6ft after they're staked in. a fox will climb 4 feet or jump right onto the roof and in the run when they're short Also why does everyone have tiny coop doors. This would never work for my setup. Door is like a peephole compared to mine. Also what if you have a door that opens horizontally or folds over into a ladder? What if you have a chicken tractor style coop and the door can't even slide up because the roof peaks. Seems like a good thing if you bought a coop from a store but not something for a more legit setup.

rip off looool

You can get one of these for a fraction of the cost of one of these at AutomaticChickenCoopDoor.com

Why would you have a loose flimsy fencing system? Why do you have absolutely NO anti-predator fencing? Why would a chicken door ANY chicken door be the only "guard" for the flock? A chicken door is NOT an anti-predator system, its just the last thing in an anti-predator system. Your poor chickens belong to an idiot.

That chicken coop was the most pathetic coop that I have ever seen. With the fox being able to get inside.

OMG!!! I 100% blame the flock owner for that terrible scene where the birds are locked OUT and the fox gets to tear them apart. The person in the mirror is solely responsible for not caring for the birds. Get off your lazy hiney and go out and close the coop door personally. IF you can't do that, please do not own chickens. If you aren't going to be home, have a friend do it. If you are going to ignore the birds, please do not own chickens. What a terrible result from pure laziness just terrible. Please, don't own chickens.